STATE  OF  NEW-YORK. 


No.  339. 


IN  ASSEMBLY, 

April  30,  1840. 


REPORT 

Of  the  committee  on  State  Prisons,  on  petitions  of 
mechanics  and  others,  relative  to  employing  con- 
victs at  mechanical  labor  in  the  State  Prisons. 

Mr.  Sibley,  from  the  committee  on  State  Prisons,  to  which  has  been 
referred  the  petitions  of  a  great  number  of  mechanics  and  other  citizens 
of  this  State  on  the  subjects  of  employing  convicts  at  mechanical  labor 
in  the  State  Prisons, 

REPORTS : 

That  they  have  given  the  subjects  presented  for  their  consideration, 
all  that  attention  which  its  importance  and  the  interests  of  the  petition- 
ers seemed  to  demand.  The  committee  recognize  the  constitutional 
right  of  the  humblest  citizen  to  "  petition  the  government  for  a  redress 
of  grievances,"  and  as  a  natural  incident  to  that  right,  the  privilege  of 
having  his  petition  received  and  respectfully  considered.  The  number 
and  respectability  of  the  petitioners,  in  the  present  case,  would  seem  to 
give  them  additional  claims  to  consideration. 

The  petioners  allege  that  the  "  mechanics  and  laboring  classes  of 
the  community,  support  indirectly,  the  whole  criminal  jurisprudence  of 
this  State."  That  by  reason  of  the  low  price  at  which  convict  labor  is 
furnished  to  the  contractors,  articles  produced  by  mechanical  skill  are 
brought  into  market  at  prices  far  below  that  for  which  they  could  be 
manufactured  by  the  respectable  mechanic  out  of  the  prisons. 

[Assembly,  No.  339.]  1 


2 


[Assembly 


It  is  also  alleged  by  the  petitioners,  that  while  all  the  mechanical 
branches  deeply  feel  the  shock  occasioned  by  the  competition  of  State 
Prison  labor,  there  are  particular  trades  which  are  so  injuriously  affect- 
ed as  scarcely  to  leave  the  mechanic  able  to  furnish  his  family  with  ne- 
cessary sustenance. 

The  petitioners  further  represent,  that  the  mechanic,  by  spending  his 
time  and  money  to  make  himself  master  of  his  business,  acquires  an 
interest  therein,  of  which  the  State  has  no  right  to  deprive  him ;  and 
that  by  teaching  mechanical  arts  to  convicts  in  the  State  Prisons,  the 
State  does  in  fact  infringe  his  rights,  by  lowering  the  value  of  his  ser- 
vices. 

The  petitioners  also  express  the  opinion  that  "  the  respectability  of 
the  mechanic  is  lowered  in  the  estimation  of  society,  from  the  fact  that 
the  convict,  when  he  leaves  the  place  of  his  confinement,  walks  into 
the  ranks  of  the  mechanic,  and  pursues  the  trade  he  has  learned  in  pri- 
son, thereby  affecting  the  whole  class,  while  he  is  not  permitted  to 
mingle  with  the  rest  of  the  community." 

Such  are  the  supposed  grievances,  as  set  forth  by  the  great  mass  of  the 
petitioners.  They  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  the  system,  as  at  pre- 
sent pursued,  unequal,  unjust  and  oppressive  towards  a  single  class  ; 
and  that  class,  the  one  least  able  to  bear  the  burden. 

As  a  remedy  for  the  above  evils,  the  petitioners  "  suggest  the  pro- 
priety of  abolishing  all  mechanical  labor  in  the  State  Prisons,  and  the 
propriety  of  supporting  the  convicts  by  a  direct  tax,  unless  they  can  be 
employed,  without  injury  to  any  class  of  community,  in  making  turn- 
pikes and  rail-roads." 

Your  committee  have  also  had  under  consideration,  a  memorial  sign- 
ed by  the  mayor  and  common  council  of  the  city  of  New-York,  and 
upwards  of  four  thousand  others,  which  declares,  "  That  the  present 
prison  system  of  this  State  is  founded  on  the  erroneous  principle  that 
realizing  large  profits  from  the  labor  of  convicts  should  be  the  primary 
object  in  establishing  a  penal  code,  and  every  other  consideration  hav- 
ing been  made  to  yield  to  that  principle,  the  system  has  failed  to  ac- 
complish any  one  desirable  object,  either  as  it  regards  the  community 
or  the  prisoners.  That  the  practice  of  employing  the  convicts  in  our 
State  Prisons,  at  mechanical  branches  of  business,  is  destructive  of  the 
interests  and  welfare  of  mechanics  ;  and  that  the  degradation  of  being 


No.  339.] 


3 


made  competitors  with  felons  and  convicts  in  a  business  to  which  they 
have  been  regularly  bred ,  casts  a  stigma  on  honest  mechanics,  and  requires 
not  only  legislative  aid,  but  the  moral  action  of  the  whole  community." 

The  memorialists  do  not  attempt  to  point  out  any  specific  means  of 
relief,  but  content  themselves  with  declaring  that  they  confide  in  the 
"wisdom  and  justice  of  the  Legislature,  and  petition  that  the  grievan- 
ces of  which  they  complain  may  be  removed." 

In  connection  with  the  above  mentioned  memorial,  the  proceedings 
of  a  public  meeting  held  in  the  city  of  New-York  on  the  5th  of  March 
last  have  also  been  referred  to  your  committee.  In  this  document,  the 
proceedings  of  the  mechanics  on  the  subject  of  State  prison  labor  are 
minutely  stated  ;  and  the  acts  of  the  Legislature  on  that  subject  for  the 
last  ten  years  are  reviewed  at  great  length.  The  evil  effects  which  are 
supposed  to  have  resulted  from  the  enactments  of  the  law  of  May  11, 
1835,  are  vividly  set  forth  :  and  their  comments  upon  this  law  are  closed 
by  the  declaration  that  they  feel  themselves  "wan-anted  in  saying  that  the 
bill  was  passed  with  no  other  intention  than  to  blind  the  eyes  of  mecha- 
nics by  the  specious  and  contradictory  nature  of  its  details  ;  that  it  ne- 
ver was  intended  to  relieve  them  ;  and  that  its  passage  was  an  outrage 
on  their  feelings  and  an  insult  on  their  understanding  ;  inasmuch  as  it 
supposed  mechanics  to  be  too  ignorant  to  discover  the  cheat.  The  act 
was  got  up  by  the  most  active  supporters  of  the  prison  system ;  and 
was  carried  through  the  Legislature  by  that  unjust  and  corrupt  influ- 
ence, which,  disregarding  all  common  right  and  common  justice,  was 
determined  to  fix  the  whole  burden  of  supporting  the  prisons  on  mecha- 
nics alone." 

They  then  proceed  to  "  express  their  views  in  relation  to  a  substi- 
tute for  the  present  penitentiary  system  ;"  and  after  declaring  that  they 
see  no  present  prospect  of  obtaining  the  establishment  of  a  system 
which  shall  mete  out  to  them  a  full  measure  of  justice,  they  say  they 
will  content  themselves  with  proposing  a  "  system  which  will  bear 
more  heavily  on  mechanics  than  on  any  other  portion  of  the  commu- 
nity ;"  and  ask  "  if  mechanics  are  satisfied  with  it,  who  can,  with  pro- 
priety, object  to  it  under  such  circumstances  ?" 

They  then  say,  "  we  consider  the  system  of  solitary  confinement 
with  labor  performed  in  solitude  the  most  feasible  plan  as  a  substitute 
for  the  present  system,  over  which  it  appears  to  us  to  possess  every  ad- 
vantage." 


4  [Assembly 

They  then  proceed  at  great  length  to  contrast  the  Philadelphia 
with  the  Auburn  plan  ;  giving  a  decided  preference  to  the  former. 
This  system  requires  the  prisoner  to  labor  in  an  apartment  by  himself, 
where  he  also  eats  and  sleeps  ;  thus,  secluding  him  night  and  day  from 
all  intercourse  with  the  world ;  while  the  Auburn  system  suffers  the 
convicts  to  labor  together  during  the  day,  and  to  eat  at  a  common  table  ; 
requiring  at  the  same  time  silence,  and  the  most  rigid  non-intercourse, 
and  confinement  in  separate  cells  at  night.  They  say,  "  in  judging  of 
the  comparative  merits  of  the  two  systems,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  dis- 
cipline of  Auburn  is  of  a  physical,  that  of  Philadelphia  of  a  moral,  cha- 
racter ;  the  whip  inflicts  immediate  pain  ;  but  solitude  inspires  perma- 
nent terror.  The  former  degrades  while  it  humiliates  ;  the  latter  sub- 
dues, but  it  does  not  debase.  At  Auburn,  the  convict  is  uniformly 
treated  with  harshness  ;  at  Philadelphia,  with  civility  :  the  one  contri- 
butes to  harden,  the  other  to  soften,  the  affections.  Auburn  stimulates 
vindictive  feelings ;  Philadelphia  induces  habitual  submission.  The 
Auburn  prisoner,  when  liberated,  conscious  that  he  is  known  to  past 
associates,  sees  an  accuser  in  every  man  he  meets.  The  Philadelphia 
convict  quits  his  cell  secure  from  recognition,  and  exempt  from  re- 
proach." 

The  meeting  above  mentioned  also  say  they  "  doubt  the  authority 
of  the  agents  of  the  prisons  to  make  contracts  in  the  manner  and  on  the 
terms  they  have  made  them  ;"  and  the  legality  of  those  contracts  when 
so  made. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  the  labor  of  the  convicts  in  our  State  Pri- 
sons, as  they  are  at  present  employed,  is  a  serious  injury  to  many  of 
those  branches  of  mechanical  labor  which  are  carried  on  in  the  prisons  ; 
and  some  of  the  trades  are  nearly  or  quite  ruined  by  its  operation. 

The  construction  which  has  been  given  to  the  law  of  1835,  by  those 
who  have  had  charge  of  the  prisons,  and  been  empowered  to  contract 
for  the  labor  of  the  convicts,  has  been  such  as  to  destroy  or  neutralize 
the  most  salutary  provisions  of  that  act,  and  many  of  the  most  serious 
evils  of  our  present  State  Prison  system  have  grown  out  of  this  con- 
struction of  the  law. 

The  act  of  May  11,  1835,  above  referred  to,  provides  that,  "  In  all 
those  branches  of  business  of  which  the  consumption  of  the  country 
is  chiefly  supplied  without  foreign  importation,  the  number  of  convicts 


No.  339.]  5 

to  be  employed,  or  let,  shall  be  limited  by  the  number  of  convicts 
who  had  learned  a  trade  before  coming  to  prison."  The  spirit  and  in- 
tention of  this  provision,  as  your  committee  believe,  was  to  provide  for 
the  employment  of  convicts  at  those  particular  branches  which  they 
had  learned  before  coming  to  prison,  so  that  a  man  who  had  been  a 
blacksmith  or  hatter  before  conviction,  should  work  at  the  business  of 
blacksmithing  or  making  hats  in  the  prison ;  and  that  no  one,  while  in 
prison,  should  labor  at  any  such  mechanical  business,  except  the  par- 
ticular trade  of  which  he  had  a  knowledge  before  coming  there. 

A  very  lax,  and,  as  your  committee  believe,  unjust  interpretation 
of  this  statute  has  been  given  by  those  who  are  empowered  to  contract 
for  State  Prison  labor ;  and  they  have  proceeded  upon  the  ground  that 
a  convict  who  had  learned  any  trade  out  of  prison,  might  legally  be 
employed  at  any  other  trade  in  the  prison  ;  and  by  this  singular  con- 
struction of  the  act,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  every  mechanic  in  the 
State  Prison  might,  if  the  agents  and  inspectors  should  so  elect,  be 
employed  at  any  one  particular  business  which  should  be  deemed  most 
profitable  to  the  State,  or  convenient  to  the  State  Prison  officers. 

Your  committee  are  not  aware  that  any  of  the  mechanics  of  this 
State  would  object  to  having  convicts  employed  in  prison  at  the  me- 
chanical business  they  had  followed  before  going  to  prison  ;  but  they 
do  object,  and  your  committee  think  with  great  justice,  to  having  a 
particular  branch  of  business  selected,  and  by  the  employment  of  a 
large  number  of  convicts  at  that  occupation  or  trade,  injure  or  destroy 
the  regular  business  of  the  honest  mechanic,  by  this  unnatural  and 
unjust  competition. 

As  an  instance  in  which  this  construction  of  the  law  operates  with 
peculiar  severity,  your  committee  would  mention  the  manufacture  of 
carpenters'  tools.  There  are  contracts  for  the  employment  of  thirty- 
four  convicts  at  Auburn,  and  about  the  same  number  at  Mount-Pleasant 
at  the  above  business,  while  there  was  never  but  one  individual,  so 
far  as  your  committee  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  who  learned  that 
trade  before  his  conviction. 

It  is  asserted  by  those  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  carpenters' 
tools,  that  after  taking  measures  to  ascertain  the  fact,  they  are  per- 
suaded there  are  not,  at  this  moment,  as  many  men  employed  at  this 
branch  of  business  in  the  United  States,  as  are  now  under  contract, 


6  [Assembly 

and  actually  employed  at  this  manufacture  in  the  two  State  Prisons  of 
this  State.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  believed  that  there  are  not,  in 
this  State,  at  this  time,  more  than  eighteen  men  at  work  at  this  busi- 
ness, while  before  the  manufacture  of  this  article  was  introduced  into 
the  State  Prisons,  there  were  over  seventy  hands  who  were  profitably 
employed  in  this  manufacture.  Some  of  these  have  been  driven  to  en- 
gage in  business  of  which  they  have  no  knowledge  ;  some  have  gone 
as  emigrants  to  the  western  States,  or  as  adventurers  to  Texas,  and 
others  are  now  out  of  business,  being  unable  to  find  employment. 
The  few  who  are  still  struggling  against  this  overwhelming  competi- 
tion, are  hardly  able  to  furnish  the  necessary  support  for  their  families, 
on  account  of  being  obliged  to  work  in  opposition  to  men  who  are  con- 
tracted at  about  three  shillings  per  day,  work  shops,  board  and  fuel 
included.  They  ask  for  relief  with  the  importunity  of  men  who  are 
conscious  that  they  are  ruined  if  they  do  not  get  it. 

The  act  of  1835  also  provides  that  the  inspectors  and  agents  are 
"  authorized  to  negotiate  with  any  of  the  present  contractors,  and  to 
procure  their  consent  to  abandon  their  respective  contracts  at  such 
time,  and  on  such  terms  as  they  may  deem  proper."  The  extreme  se- 
verity with  which  the  contracts  for  the  manufacture  of  carpenters'  tools 
operate  upon  those  engaged  in  that  business,  induced  the  committee  to 
enquire  of  the  contractor  for  the  tool  shop  at  Mount-Pleasant,  the  low- 
est terms  on  which  he  would  abandon  it.  He  replied  that  he  could 
not  make  any  such  arrangement  at  present,  on  account  of  the  amount 
of  stock  on  hand  ;  and  that  he  could  give  no  definite  reply  until  he  had 
consulted  those  interested  with  him  ;  and  that  if  any  such  arrangement 
should  be  entered  into,  it  must  be  prospective,  and  take  effect  at  a  fu- 
ture day.  A  reply  in  writing  has  since  been  received  from  him,  stat- 
ing that  he  will  relinquish  the  unexpired  term  of  his  contract  on  the 
31st  day  of  December  next,  for  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars. 

A  respectable  deputation  from  the  coopers  in  the  cities  of  New- York 
and  Albany  have  appeared  before  the  committee,  and  they  represent  the 
effect  of  the  contract  for  cooperage  in  the  State  Prison  at  Mount  Plea- 
sant as  destructive  to  their  business  in  the  city  of  New-York,  and  such 
other  places  as  depend  on  that  city  for  a  market  for  their  manufactures ; 
that  by  reason  of  the  large  number  of  hands  employed  in  the  prison, 
aided  by  the  most  approved  machinery  propelled  by  steam  power,  the 
contractor  is  enabled  to  monopolize  almost  the  whole  of  the  business, 
and  to  furnish  almost  the  exclusive  supply  of  the  market  with  those  de- 


No.  339.] 


7 


scriptions  of  casks  which  he  chooses  to  manufacture  in  prison.  It  is 
stated  that  by  making  very  large  contracts  for  stock  ;  by  a  cheap  sup- 
ply of  labor,  including  shop  room,  board,  fuel  and  machinery ;  and 
by  having,  (as  the  contract  provides,)  three  months'  credit  from  the 
State  for  the  labor  of  the  convicts,  that  it  is  uttery  impossible  for  coo- 
pers out  of  prison,  (who  must  pay  their  journeymen  once  in  each  week,) 
to  compete  in  the  market  against  such  immense  odds. 

The  committee  being  fully  impressed  with  the  hardship  of  this  pri« 
son  contract,  made  inquiry  of  the  contractor  upon  what  terms  he  would 
relinquish  it.  He  declined  making  any  conditions,  saying  he  would 
reply  to  any  definite  proposition  which  might  be  made  him  on  behalf  of 
the  State. 

Several  communications  from  persons  who  are  large  purchasers  of 
casks  in  New-York,  have  been  made  to  the  committee,  in  which  they 
state  that  prior  to  the  introduction  of  cooperage  at  the  prison,  great  in- 
convenience was  experienced  in  filling  orders  for  casks  for  the  West 
India  market  and  for  home  use ;  that  since  the  establishment  in  the  pri- 
son at  Sing-Sing,  they  are  able  to  fill  orders  promptly,  and  to  any  ex- 
tent ;  that  this  promptitude  increases  the  business,  until  one  firm  say 
they  now  do  more  than  one-half  of  the  business  in  the  supply  of  casks 
to  the  West  Indies  from  the  United  States  ;  that  the  increased  impor- 
tation of  West  India  products  gives  profitable  employment  to  the  New- 
York  coopers  in  the  business,  technically  called  "trimming"  (repairing) 
casks,  and  that  if  the  cooperage  was  discontinued  at  the  prison,  great 
inconvenience  would  ensue  to  dealers  in  New-York.  It  is  also  stated 
that  coopers  in  that  city  decline  making  new  work  when  they  can  do 
"  trimming,"  and  that  they  can  find  sufficient  employ  in  making  casks 
of  such  kinds  as  are  not  manufactured  in  prison.  They  also  say  that 
Sing-Sing  casks  are  not  sold  below  pi  ice,  and  that  New- York  coopers 
are  not  undersold  in  the  market. 

One  dealer  says  that  if  the  cooperage  at  Sing-Sing  was  broken  up  it 
would  not  benefit  the  coopers  in  New-York,  as  the  purchasers  of  casks 
would  have  to  look  to  the  eastern  States  entirely  for  a  supply.  Another 
says  he  has  to  fill  several  thousand  casks  annually,  and  that  the  New- 
York  coopers  use  "culled  staves,"  and  "make  work  of  inferior  quality," 
and  that  he  "  could  not  think  of  depending  on  New-York  coopers,  but 
should  (if  he  could  not  get  casks  at  the  prison,)  have  to  depend  on  Pat- 
terson and  Bloomfield,  New-Jersey  for  a  supply  of  casks."  They 


8 


[Assembly 


claim  that  equal  justice  to  all  classes  requires  at  the  hands  of  the  Le- 
gislature, the  same  regard  for  the  interests  of  the  merchant  as  of  the 
mechanic. 

After  hearing  the  statements  for  and  against  the  cooperage  at  the  pri- 
son, the  committee  are  compelled  to  say  they  consider  it  oppressive  upon 
the  trade,  and  that  although  it  may  be  a  convenience  to  distillers,  and 
also  to  those  who  export  casks  to  the  West  India  market,  yet  it  is  be- 
lieved the  supply  would  soon  be  found  equal  to  the  demand,  if  the 
whole  business  was  put  into  the  hands  of  the  regular  mechanics  who 
have  spent  their  early  years  in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  their  business, 
and  the  bare  fact  that  a  few  merchants  could  go  forward  with  less  in- 
convenience and  at  an  increased  profit,  does  not  seem  to  be  a  sufficient 
warrant  to  cut  up  by  the  roots  an  employment  on  which  the  honest  me- 
chanic, with  his  wife  and  children,  depend  for  support. 

A  very  general  complaint  was  made  a  few  years  ago  by  the  mecha- 
nics, that  the  State  prison  convict,  after  learning  a  trade  in  prison,  came 
out  as  a  competitor  to  the  regular  workman.  To  remedy  this  evil,  the 
following  enactment  was  made  in  the  law  of  1835,  before  mentioned  : 

"  No  mechanical  trade  shall  hereafter  be  taught  to  convicts  in  the 
State  Prisons  of  this  State,  except  the  making  of  those  articles  of  which 
the  chief  supply  for  the  consumption  of  the  country  is  imported  from 
foreign  countries. " 

In  order  to  yield  a  seeming  compliance  with  the  above  law,  and  yet 
employ  men  at  common  mechanical  business,  a  very  ingenious  device  is 
adopted.  For  example,  they  take  a  dozen  men  who  have  never  learn- 
ed a  trade  and  place  them  at  the  disposal  of  the  superintendents  of  the 
coopers'  shop.  The  first  takes  the  material  for  the  head  of  a  cask  and 
splits  it  to  the  proper  thickness  ;  the  second  takes  off  the  corners  and 
the  "  sap  ;"  the  third  applies  it  to  a  machine  to  bring  it  to  a  rough 
edge  ;  the  fourth  takes  it  to  the  jointer  and  gives  it  a  true  edge ;  the 
fifth  bores  the  holes  for  the  dowel  pins  ;  the  sixth  puts  in  the  pins  and 
fastens  the  pieces  together ;  the  seventh  smooths  it ;  the  eighth  takes 
it  to  the  machine  and  makes  it  round ;  the  ninth  cuts  off  the  knots 
from  hoop  poles  ;  the  tenth  saws  them  to  a  proper  length  ;  the  eleventh 
splits  them,  and  the  twelfth  shaves  them.  Now  each  of  these  men 
may  work  half  a  dozen  years  at  making  barrels,  and  each  one  can  in  a 
very  few  days,  by  these  minute  subdivisions  of  labor,  become  quite 


No.  339.] 


9 


perfect  at  his  particular  branch  ;  and  yet  there  has  been  no  violation  of 
the  letter  of  the  law  which  declares  he  shall  be  taught  no  "  mechani- 
cal trade  :"  for  after  all  he  is  not  a  cooper. 

How  these  twelve  men  can  have  been  legally  "  employed  or  let,"  to 
work  as  above  stated,  in  the  face  of  the  following  extract  from  the  same 
law  of  1835,  is  not  quite  clear.  "  In  all  those  branches  of  business  of 
which  the  consumption  of  the  country  is  chiefly  supplied  without  fo- 
reign importation,  the  number  of  convicts  to  be  employed  or  let  shall 
be  limited  by  the  number  of  convicts  who  had  learned  a  trade  before 
coming  to  prison." 

The  ^committee  have  alluded  to  the  business  of  plane  making  and 
coopering,  as  samples  of  the  whole  of  the  business  carried  on  in  prison  ; 
and  although  some  branches  operate  much  more  severely  on  those  en- 
gaged in  business  out  of  prison  than  others,  the  committee  believe  that 
the  whole  system  of  hiring  out  the  convicts  ought  to  be  abolished  as 
soon  as  it  can  legally  be  done. 

The  manner  in  which  some  of  the  contracts  have  been  let  has  been 
highly  objectionable  ;  and  although  there  is  no  evidence  that  any  of  the 
agents  have  been  guilty  of  collusion,  or  of  extending  benefits  to  friends, 
through  favor  or  hope  of  reward  ;  yet,  if  the  committee  are  correctly  in- 
formed, there  have  been  cases  in  which  the  lettings  have  operated  as 
an  indirect  fraud  upon  the  State.  For  example,  several  individuals  of 
the  same  family  put  in  proposals  for  the  same  contract  at  different 
prices.  This  is  done  for  the  purpose  of  getting  it  at  the  highest  price 
if  there  should  be  competition,  to  take  it  out  of  the  hands  of  him  who 
had  proposed  on  the  lowest  terms  ;  but  if  there  should  be  no  competi- 
tion, then  he  who  had  bid  highest  declines  taking  it  at  the  bid  he  has 
made,  and  it  fdlls  back  upon  the  next  member  of  the  family,  and  he 
also  declines  ;  and  thus  it  goes  down  to  him  who  had  made  the  lowest 
bid.  By  taking  this  course,  and  then  one  of  the  bidders  coming  in  as 
bail  for  another,  they  can  share  in  the  benefit  of  labor  at  two  or  three 
shillings  a  day,  and  be  the  better  able  to  undersell  the  regular  mecha- 
nic, or  perhaps,  drive  him  out  of  business. 

The  committee  are  not  aware  of  any  express  provision  of  law  which 
allows  the  agents  or  inspectors  to  extend  a  credit  of  three  months,  or 
any  other  term  of  time  to  contractors  for  convict  labor ;  and  the  evil 
effects  of  this  course  are  sufficiently  manifest  at  Auburn,  in  the  shape 

|Assembly,  No.  339.]  2 


10 


[Assembly 


of  a  large  amount  of  debts,  long  past  due,  a  large  proportion  of  which 
are  believed  to  be  of  very  little  value.  It  would  appear  by  the  report 
from  that  prison  to  the  present  Legislature  that  there  was  then  due  and 
unpaid,  $17,145 .99  ;  and  the  officers  of  the  same  prison  reported  to  the 
committee  on  the  first  of  March  last  an  amount  of  $13,724.11  as  due 
from  contractors,  and  not  included  in  the  above  amount :  of  the  $17,- 
145.99  above  mentioned,  $6,974.58  is  due  from  the  tool  shop ;  and 
of  the  $13,724.11,  above  $2,890.65  is  due  from  the  same  shop; 
making  a  total  indebtedness  from  the  tool  shop,  alone,  of  $9,865.23  to 
the  State. 

The  committee  do  not  considei  it  necessary  to  embody  in  this  report 
a  statement  in  detail  of  the  several  existing  contracts  for  labor  at  the 
State  Prisons  ;  as  such  a  report  from  the  committee  appointed  under  a 
resolution  of  the  Senate  of  April  25,  1839,  was  made  to  the  Legisla- 
ture on  the  15th  of  February  last.  It  is  believed  that  some  of  these 
contracts  have  become  forfeit,  by  reason  of  non-payment  on  the  part  of 
the  contractors  ;  and  the  committee  would  recommend  that  in  all  such 
cases,  provision  should  be  made  by  law  to  have  them  immediately 
abrogated  ;  and  every  outstanding  contract  brought  to  a  close  as  soon  as 
practicable,  without  violating  the  faith  of  the  State. 

The  abolition  of  the  Auburn  system  of  discipline,  and  the  adoption 
of  that  of  Philadelphia,  has  been  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  com- 
mittee ;  but  they  have  not  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  Philadelphia 
system  to  speak  with  confidence  in  its  favor,  and  do  not  consider  the 
question  as  settled,  that  it  is  the  best  plan  yet  discovered.  Each  sys- 
tem may  have  advantages  peculiar  to  itself. 

It  has  been  observed  that  persons  of  dissipated  lives  and  enfeebled 
constitutions,  usually  give  signs  of  improved  health  after  a  few  weeks 
confinement  at  prisons  like  that  of  Auburn,  while  the  close  confine- 
ment at  Philadelphia  has  been  thought  to  produce  an  opposite  effect. 
The  theory  of  the  Philadelphia  system  is  indeed  beautiful ;  but  since 
it  has  been  reduced  to  practice,  the  committee  have  not  been  able  to 
perceive  that  the  high  anticipations  of  the  philanthropist  have  been  es- 
tablished by  facts.  Comparing  the  number  of  deaths  at  the  Philadel- 
phia prison  for  the  last  year,  with  those  of  five  other  prisons  upon 
the  Auburn  plan,  they  will  be  found  more  than  three  to  one  against 
Philadelphia.  It  was  predicted  by  the  early  friends  of  the  solitary 
system,  that  it  would  be  such  a  terror  to  the  vicious  that  there  would 


No.  339.] 


11 


be  few  re-commitments  :  but  there  were,  at  the  Philadelphia  prison, 
during  the  last  year,  twenty-six  imprisoned  who  had  been  there  before ; 
and  of  the  whole  number  for  the  last  nine  years,  one  to  every  eight  and 
a  half  were  re-commitments  ;  while  of  the  whole  number  at  Auburn, 
only  one  to  every  twelve  and  a  half  have  been  re-committed. 

The  effect  of  solitary  confinement,  day  and  night,  has  been  still 
worse  upon  the  mind.  The  report  from  Philadelphia  for  1838,  gives 
18  cases  of  mania,  monomania,  hallucination  and  dementia,  giving  3-g- 
per  cent  of  the  white,  and  6  1-5  of  the  colored  convicts  ;  ten  of  the  18, 
who  were  mentally  deranged,  being  colored.  In  some  of  the  other  pri- 
sons it  does  not  exceed  one-fifth  of  one  per  cent. 

If  the  Philadelphia  system  is  not  to  be  preferred  on  account  of  its 
salutary  effects  upon  the  bodies  or  minds  of  the  convicts,  it  can  hardly 
be  advisable  to  give  it  consideration  on  account  of  any  supposed  profit 
to  be  derived  from  it  by  the  State  ;  as  a  convict,  laboring  alone  in  his 
cell,  with  nothing  in  his  sight  to  excite  his  ambition  or  prompt  him  to 
excel,  cannot  be  expected  to  compete  with  one  whose  ambition  is  sti- 
mulated by  observing  others  around  him,  whom  he  is  desirous  to  sur- 
pass either  in  quantity  of  work  or  mechanical  skill.  The  treasurer  of 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  gives  among  the  items  of  payment  from  the 
public  funds  of  that  State  for  1838,  the  sum  of  $38,360,  on  account  of 
the  Philadelphia  prison,  which  goes  to  confirm  the  belief  that  the  earn- 
ings, in  comparison  with  the  expenditures  in  that  prison,  must  be  light. 
These  views  seem  to  accord  with  the  opinions  of  several  distinguished 
State  Prison  officers,  given  as  the  result  of  their  own  personal  obser- 
vation. One  says,  after  being  in  office  fourteen  years  :  "  Experience 
abundantly  proves  that  solitary  confinement,  if  protracted,  and  especi- 
ally when  constrained,  is  prejudicial  to  health.  It  is  folly  to  maintain 
the  contrarv.  Such  a  position  contradicts  both  the  laws  of  nature  and 
experience."  Again  :  "  I  cannot  persuade  myself  that  long  continued 
and  involuntary  solitude  can  produce  a  healthful  and  salutary  effect  on 
the  mind.  It  is  manifest  to  my  mind,  that  it  is  not  in  accordance  with 
the  constitution  of  the  human  soul,  and  the  sphere  in  which  it  was  de- 
signed to  act,  to  expect  a  healthful  action  of  its  powers  in  the  position 
and  circumstances  we  have  been  contemplating.  Experience  too,  un- 
less I  greatly  mistake,  in  its  general  results,  leads  to  the  same  conclu- 
sion. Who  does  not  know  that  the  natural  and  direct  tendency  of  long 
continued  solitude  is  to  generate  a  morbid  state  of  feeling — to  induce 


IS 


[Assembly 


melancholy,  misanthropy,  and  a  spirit  of  revenge  ;  and,  when  these 
are  once  generated,  to  foster  and  strengthen  them  until  they  become 
habitual  and  beyond  control  ?  Despair,  too,  often  follows  in  the  train, 
accompanied  with  an  utter  recklessness  as  to  all  moral  principle,  and 
terminating,  not  unfrequently,  in  idiocy  or  ungovernable  insanity."  A 
letter  from  the  master  of  the  House  of  Correction  in  the  city  of  Boston, 
S3YS  :  "  I  am  not  in  faTor  of  solitary  confinement,  day  and  night,  with 
or  without  labor ;  the  expense  of  supporting  such  a  prison  must  be 
very  great,  oyer  and  above  the  labors  of  the  prisoners.  If  a  man  should 
be  so  fortunate  as  to  live  and  come  out  sane,  I  should  think  it  would 
unfit  him  for  any  place  except  a  prison  or  an  alms-house.  I  am  deci- 
dedly in  favor  of  a  prison  with  solitary  confinement  at  night  and  at 
meals,  with  silent  labor  during  the  day,  and  constant  watching  so  far  as 
is  necessary  to  prevent  communication  among  the  prisoners.  This 
system  depends  on  good  and  faithful  officers,  and  in  my  opinion,  the 
effect  is  entirely  opposite  to  the  Pennsylvania  system." 

The  keeper  of  the  penitentiary  at  Baton  Rouge,  who  has  had  charge 
of  it  from  the  time  of  its  establishment,  says  :  "  We  never  had  any 
case  of  insanity,  or  even  the  least  appearance  of  any  such  disease.  I 
am  of  opinion,  that  after  a  length  of  time,  solitary  confinement,  day 
ar.i  right,  must  cause  insanity,  or  at  least  idiotism." 

The  keeper  of  the  prison  in  Kingston,  U.  C.  says  :  "  We  have  had 
no  case  of  insanity  in  this  prison  since  its  commencement.  I  am  de- 
cidedly of  opinion  that  solitary  confinement  at  night,  and  silent  labor 
by  day.  :s  incomparably  the  best  system,  not  only  as  regards  health 
and  expense,  but  also  reformation."' 

Such  are  the  sentiments  of  men  whose  official  stations  and  experi- 
ence would  seem  to  give  weight  to  their  opinions,  but  if  the  Legisla- 
tore  should  be  inclined  to  adopt  the  Pennsylvania  system,  the  commit- 
tee would  remark  that  the  want  of  accommodations  in  the  way  of  work- 
ing apartments  at  Auburn,  afford  a  good  opportunity  for  its  gradual  in- 
troduction, by  an  extension  of  the  wings  of  that  prison,  where  the  old 
work  shops  are  now  located. 

The  accommodations,  in  the  new  prison  recently  erected  at  Sing- 
Sing,  for  female  convicts,  are  very  good  ;  and  the  committee  would 
recommend  that  all  females  hereafter  to  be  sentenced  to  the  State  Pri- 
son, be  sent  direct  to  that  prison. 


No.  339.J 


13 


There  is  a  provision  in  the  act  of  April 
vol.  3.  p.  387,)  which  requires  that  where  " 
to  be  imprisoned  in  the  State  Prison 
years,  the  court  before  which  the  conviction 
the  time  of  the  sentence,  that  it  will  exp  ire  : 
and  the  month  of  November,  unless  the  ei 
may  be  fixed  by  law . "  Th; s  p r :  ~  5 . : z 
ed  by  many  of  the  judges.  Tom  luiiwuifl 
than  eighty-three  convicts,  now  Li  prise::, 
counties,  have  been  sentenced  without  ic« 
this  law.  There  are  several  evils  attra«iai 
of  individuals  in  the  depth  of  winter.  It  is 
to  provide  them  with  comfortable  apparel : 
possible,  for  them  to  find  employment  at  th 
ing  to  obtain  the  means  of  support  hy  die 
commission  of  crime  ;  and  it  is  probable  t 
occur,  when  if  they  were  d: -charged  at  th: 
requires  they  should  be,  they  would  find  ei 
again  sent  to  prison.  No  new  law  is  re::: 
it  is  mentioned  to  call  attention  of  ti 
i  sting. 

A  petition  from  E.  C.  Warner  has  been 
stating  that  he  has  devote:,  most  c:  his  t 
course  of  experiments  in  bringing  to  per 
called  Roman  Cement.  That  the  proper  : 
dance  on  the  premises  now  owned  by  th 
Pleasant  prison  grounds;  and  asking  that 
law  for  allowing  him  to  establish  the  manu 
premises  above  mentioned  ;  and  that,  mass 
mechanical  business  now  carried  en  in  th: 
or  agents  of  the  Mount-Pleasant  prison  rr. 
such  convicts  as  may  he  re  rained  to  assts 
and  reasonable  terms.  The  petitioner  is 
may  be  used  by  the  State  in  the  construct 
tures  on  the  canals  ;  and  that  it  is  more  va 
other  cement  now  known.  Specimens  :: 
bited  to  your  cornmittee.  The  prayer  01 
sonable  ;  and  your  committee  would  recon 
powered  to  make  the  necessary  arrange m< 


14 


[Assembly 


being  paid,  for  the  use  of  the  State,  a  proper  and  fair  compensation  for 
the  materials  and  labor. 

Application  has  also  been  made  to  your  committee  by  Mr.  Solomon 
Whipple  of  the  city  of  Albany,  stating  that  he  has  invented  a  machine 
for  cutting  files,  which  is  now  ready  to  be  put  in  operation,  and  desir- 
ing that  the  State  would  employ  him  and  the  machine,  and  establish 
the  manufacture  of  files  in  the  prison  on  account  of  the  State.  A  sam- 
ple of  files  cut  by  this  machine  was  exhibited  to  your  committee.  It 
is  not  known  that  the  business  of  cutting  files  is  now  carried  on  in  this 
country ;  and  your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  inspectors  and 
agents  now  have  the  power  to  establish  the  business  in  prison,  if  it 
should  seem  proper  to  them  to  do  so ;  and  they  would  recommend  to 
Mr.  Whipple  to  exhibit  to  them  a  sample  of  his  work  and  his  machine 
for  therr  consideration  and  approval. 

Your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  principal  amount  of  labor  at 
the  prison  at  Mount-Pleasant  ought  to  be  devoted  to  the  business  of 
quarrying  marble  and  selling  it  in  its  rough  state.  The  supply  appears 
to  be  inexhaustible ;  and  the  committee  were  assured  by  the  keeper 
that,  it  might  be  sold  at  a  profit ;  and  that  the  business  of  cutting  stone 
might  be  confined  to  what  may  be  wanted  by  the  Slate  for  public 
buildings  and  other  public  works. 

A  large  amount  of  labor  by  such  of  the  convicts  at  Auburn  as  are 
not  legally  employed  upon  existing  contracts,  can  be  employed  during 
the  coming  season  in  finishing  the  wall  which  is  partly  completed 
around  the  prison  yard.  This  can  be  done  with  very  little  actual  ex- 
pense to  the  State  ;  as  the  west  wall  of  the  old  prison  yard  will  fur- 
nish materials  for  the  new  erections. 

The  subject  of  a  House  of  Refuge  for  juvenile  delinquents  in  the 
western  part  of  the  State,  which  received  the  recommendation  of  his 
Excellency,  the  Governor,  in  his  late  message,  and  for  which  peti- 
tions have  been  presented  from  the  boards  of  supervisors  of  several  of 
the  counties  of  the  State,  has  also  been  referred  to  the  committee  on 
State  Prisons  ;  but  as  this  is  a  matter  not  necessarily  connected  with 
the  existing  State  Prisons,  it  will  be  made  the  subject  of  a  separate 
report. 

The  grievances  complained  of  in  the  numerous  petitions  from  the 
mechanics,  would  seem  to  demand  special  legislation  ;  and  in  order  to 


No.  339.] 


15 


present  this  subject  unembarrassed  by  any  other  matter,  a  bill  has  been 
prepared  with  the  design  of  giving  relief  for  the  evils  of  which  they 
complain. 

Another  bill,  embracing  such  provisions,  as  the  general  regulation  of 
the  prisons  seem  to  require,  has  also  been  prepared,  both  of  which  the 
committee  ask  leave  to  introduce. 

A  bill  entitled  "  An  act  in  relation  to  the  State  Prisons,"  was  intro- 
duced on  notice  in  Assembly  on  the  16th  inst.  by  a  member  of  the 
House  from  the  city  of  New-York,  and  referred  to  the  committee  on 
State  Prisons.  Your  committee  return  it  to  the  House  without  amend- 
ment, not  feeling  themselves  called  on  to  approve  or  condemn  it.  Its 
consideration  can  be  called  for  when  the  general  subject  shall  be  before 
the  house,  and  it  can  then  receive  such  action  as  the  Assembly  may 
think  it  deserves. 

All  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

DERICK  SIBLEY, 
SAMUEL  B.  FERRIS, 
DAVID  HALSEY, 
JOHN  W.  McFADDEN, 
SETH  C.  HAWLEY. 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

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" Ever'tbinQ  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

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